


Safely Apart

by Annide



Series: 911 Weeks [25]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Cancer, Pandemics, TKStrandWeek2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26866654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: As the pandemic hits and the world goes into quarantine, TK worries about his dad's health.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Owen Strand & TK Strand, TK Strand & Zoe (9-1-1 Lone Star)
Series: 911 Weeks [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808203
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	Safely Apart

**Author's Note:**

> Written for TK Strand Week Day 5: “Can I sleep here tonight?” + hurt/comfort

They both sat on the couch, watching the news, TK taking up most of the space as he leaned his back against the armrest and had his feet on the middle cushion. They were both silent as the reports filled them with dread. A pandemic had taken over the world and the country was going into quarantine. Everyone was being asked to stay home, for their own safety, to avoid the virus from spreading farther and killing even more people.

“Work will be crazy. Maybe I should go by the station tomorrow.” Owen said. “Lots of new measures to put in place. It’ll be a rough ride for a while.”

“You’re kidding, right?” TK sat up straighter, looking directly at his father.

“No, why would I be joking about something like this? I have to make sure everyone stays safe out there, so we can keep doing our jobs and helping others.”

“You can’t seriously think you’ll keep working.”

“I’m the captain, TK, why would I stay home? I have responsibilities.”

“You’re living with cancer, dad. Your immune system’s weakened. You can’t go out there and risk being exposed, it’s too dangerous.”

“The team needs me.”

“The team needs you to stay alive. And so do I.”

“Look, son, I am not abandoning you all to deal with this on your own. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Owen’s voice was firm and final. He was unwavering in his decision and it made TK angry that his dad wouldn’t even consider how it affected everyone who cared about him. TK stood. He had to do something with that energy coursing through his body and standing, slightly pacing, was the best he could come up with.

“Don’t worry about you? You’re my dad, you’re sick and there’s a deadly virus going around. Of course I worry!”

“TK-” Owen tried to interrupt him, to argue with him, but TK wouldn’t let him.

“No, you don’t get to say anything. You don’t get to try to rationalise this. You brought me here to keep me close to you, so you could make sure I was safe. I want the same thing for you. It’s not safe for you out there anymore.”

“I’ll wear all the protective equipment I need. I promise nothing will happen to me. The team needs its captain. These are uncertain times, I can’t let them down now.”

“I’m sure Judd would be happy to cover for you. And the team would feel much better knowing you’re safe. They care about you. They would understand. Please, dad.”

His voice cracked. He could feel tears threatening to come out. Why couldn’t his dad understand? Why was he so stubbornly sticking to his decision? It was a matter of his health. This could affect their entire future together. TK was scared. If his dad caught the virus, chances were his lungs wouldn’t be able to handle it. He didn’t want to lose his dad, he wasn’t ready for that. He would never be.

“I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have, TK. I know what I’m doing. I know how to stay safe.”

“You don’t have any more pandemic experience than I have, dad. But I do have more experience in making choices that put my life at risk and I’m telling you, this is one.”

“You’re comparing my desire to keep working and helping people to your drug addiction now?” There was anger rising in Owen’s voice, but TK didn’t care. He knew it was misplaced, he knew he was right and his father was wrong. For once. “This is going too far, TK.”

“If you won’t care enough to listen to me, if you’ll be too much of a hypocrite to take care of yourself the way you keep asking me to, then there’s no point in me staying here.”

TK could barely get the words out of his mouth. He didn’t really mean them. He was hurt and desperate and he felt as if backed against a wall.

“I can’t stand to watch you ignore all common sense and be so reckless with your life. You don’t mind potentially hurting me, then I hope you won’t mind if I don’t talk to you anymore.”

He walked away without giving him a chance to respond. He slammed the door behind him, perfectly aware of the sting his words would’ve caused his dad, but he didn’t care. Or, at least, he didn’t want to. He’d barely made it to the curb when tears started obscuring his vision. He hated fighting with his dad. And he really hated finding himself outside, in the evening, like this, unsure where to go.

_ _ _

Usually, when TK came to his apartment at night, their lips found each other like magnets and Carlos felt himself being pushed back against the door as soon as he’d opened it. Not tonight however. Tonight, TK stood silently, eyes still red from crying, his lip trembling with more unshed tears. He’d been staring down at the ground, but he looked up to meet his concerned gaze.

“Can I sleep here tonight?”

He spoke almost sheepishly, like he’d suffered some kind of defeat, like he was trying his hardest not to start crying again. Carlos didn’t know what happened, but what he did know was that TK had never spent the night here before. Whenever they saw each other, TK always left before they could fall asleep and went back home. The fact he’d clearly come from home, when they didn’t have plans, just to ask to sleep here, meant something. Whatever happened, it was bad.

“You’re always welcomed here, TK.”

He pulled him into a hug. He didn’t need to know anything. TK would tell him in time, when it wasn’t as fresh and he’d calmed down, but, for now, comfort was what he needed most. Carlos loaned him a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to sleep in. They cuddled down on the bed, his arms tightly wrapped around TK, who buried his face in his chest, holding on to him as if afraid to lose him.

Carlos rubbed his boyfriend’s back while he cried some more, shushing him and repeating that he was there for him, whatever he needed, and for however long it took for him to feel better. Eventually TK fell asleep. Carlos stayed awake a while longer, making sure he was good, enjoying the sight of how peaceful TK seemed for once. He could get used to this. The sleep over part, not the upset boyfriend part. He didn’t like seeing TK in pain like that, he wished there was a way for him to make it all go away, to solve any problem he had.

Whatever this year had coming for them, however that pandemic affected their lives, Carlos hoped they could stick together through it all and make it safely on the other side.

_ _ _

They weren’t supposed to go anywhere. Everyone was supposed to stay home, except for work, but he couldn’t do this over the phone. They weren’t at this point in their relationship. He had to go talk to her in person. Maybe they weren’t at the surprise drop by stage either, but TK didn’t have any better ideas. He rang the doorbell and stepped back six feet.

“TK? Should you be here?”

The surprise was evident in Zoe’s face when she answered the door. She looked as though she was about to invite him in, a reflex, but she saw how far he stood and revised her plan. Instead, she stepped outside, closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

“Probably not, but I really need to talk to you about my dad. I’ll keep my distance.”

“What’s wrong? He told me you guys had a fight, but he didn’t give me any details.”

“He wants to keep working. He won’t listen to me.”

“But he has cancer, doesn’t that make him more vulnerable to the virus?”

“It does. I tried to explain that to him and tell him how worried I am for him, but he says he can’t just stay home, that his team needs him.”

“That sounds like him. Do you want me to talk to him? Try to reason with him some other way? If you couldn’t, I don’t think I could be much help. We haven’t been seeing each other that long. But I can try.”

TK took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to his proposal. It was, after all, a lot to ask of someone. And she was right, her dad and her were still in the early stages of their relationship, just like he was with Carlos. Something like this could break them before they even really started. But he didn’t know what else to do.

“I thought maybe, if you’re working from home now, you could go stay with him? You could keep each other company. It might help convince him to stay home.”

“It’s a little early for us to move in together.”

“I know, and I completely understand if you don’t want to do it. But it’d only be for a while, nothing permanent.”

She seemed to be thinking it over, weighing the pros and the cons. It was all he really wanted her to do, to consider it, it was all he was asking.

“Listen, TK, I’ll call and talk to him about it. But I can’t make you any promises.”

“Thank you.”

They exchanged smiles and TK went right back to the passenger seat of Carlos’s car that was waiting for him. It only took a day or two. He thought Zoe must’ve been some kind of magician to pull it off that quickly. She brought her things over and moved into their house, and TK grabbed his own stuff and left to stay with Carlos. You’re never too safe and his boyfriend also had a job where he could be exposed.

The Ryders had also offered to house him, just as concerned with his chances to infect Owen, but neither of them was exactly surprised when he chose to go elsewhere. There were just advantages to being with Carlos that they couldn’t offer him.

TK made good with his father. Owen understood that everything had come from a place of fear and worry for his health. His son loved him and wanted to make sure he didn’t have to lose him. Owen could relate. They shared one last hug and promised to video chat regularly, maybe every day. They’d get through this together, even if they had to stay apart.


End file.
